Despite increased casualties, American voters say 58 - 33 percent that eliminating the threat of
terrorists operating from Afghanistan is a goal for which American troops should fight and
possibly die, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Voters say 49 - 41 percent that the U.S. is doing the right thing fighting in Afghanistan
and say 59 - 26 percent that Afghanistan will not be another Vietnam, the independent
Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.
President Barack Obama gets a negative 44 - 47 percent overall job approval rating,
statistically unchanged from his record-low 44 - 48 percent score July 21.

Voters approve 49 - 40 percent of President Obama's handling of Afghanistan and
approve 53 - 40 percent of his handling of duties as commander-in-chief of the military, but they
disapprove 56 - 39 percent of the way he is handling the economy.

Voters say 32 - 22 percent that the economy is getting worse, not better, virtually
identical to July's finding, but more pessimistic than the 32 - 24 percent who thought in May the
economy was getting better.

"The good news for President Barack Obama is that his standing with the American
people hasn't deteriorated further. The bad news is that he remains at his record low levels and
the November elections are right around the corner," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of
the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "Voters' pessimism about the economy and their
economic future shows no signs of abating, a factor that must worry the White House."
Quinnipiac University Poll/September 9, 2010 - page 2

"And a Democrat who gets better grades as commander-in-chief than he does on the
economy is an anomaly," Brown added.

While support for the war in Afghanistan is constant, American voters say 55 - 33
percent that the United States will not be successful eliminating terrorists from Afghanistan.
Voters do support 65 - 29 percent Obama's decision to begin withdrawing U.S. troops there by
next July and believe 58 - 28 percent he will carry through with that promise.

"Support for the war in Afghanistan and President Obama's policies there has inched up
in the last month - perhaps because of his nationally televised speech about the exit of U.S.
combat troops from Iraq," said Brown. "The concern that the American people will see the
increase in casualties as meaning the war there is turning into another Vietnam appears
groundless. President Obama should note, however, that his strongest supporters on Afghanistan
are Republicans and conservatives who disagree with him about most everything else, while
those who usually back him, Democrats and liberals, are the least supportive of the war."

American voters say 42 - 37 percent that they would vote for a Republican rather than a
Democrat in the November Congressional elections, compared to the 43 - 38 percent GOP lead
in the July 21 Quinnipiac University survey.

Tea Party

Support for the Tea Party appears to have flat lined, as only 12 percent of voters consider
themselves part of the Tea Party movement, compared to 14 percent in earlier surveys. Voter
favorability of the Tea Party is split 30 - 31 percent, also down slightly to the lowest score.

From August 31 - September 7, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,905 registered voters
nationwide with a margin of error of +/- 2.3 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the
nation as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or
follow us on Twitter.

1. If the 2010 election for the U.S. House of Representatives were being held
today, would you vote for the Republican candidate or the Democratic candidate
in your district?

31. Do you think the United States is heading for the same kind of involvement
in Afghanistan as it had in the Vietnam War, or do you think the United States
will avoid that kind of involvement this time?

TREND: Do you think the United States is heading for the same kind of
involvement in Afghanistan as it had in the Vietnam war, or do you think the
United States will avoid that kind of involvement this time?